On a budget? 10 ways to go “green” to save some green.

March 5th, 2008 · No Comments · Environment, Farmers Market, Going Green, Natural
Post written by Jason

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These days green is all the rage, but many people who try to “Go Green” get discouraged by the thought of high prices and new habits. By spending a little bit of time and money you can go green and in the long term save yourself money and contribute to saving the environment at the same time. Here are ten ways to save you green while going green:

Take advantage of city programs to improve the energy efficiency of your house. For example our local water service provider in San Antonio, Texas SAWS has a program called Kick the Can where households can qualify to receive 2 water saving toilets absolutely free. I’ve found similar programs in nearly every state in the US. If your city or state offers programs like this contact me and I will post it somewhere to let others know about it.
This hint has been said a million times, but its worth repeating. Turn your thermostat down 2 degrees in the winter and up 2 degrees in the summer. To make it easy on yourself call your Energy provider and ask them about rebate programs or free programmable thermostat programs. Another thing you can do in the same realm is to turn down your water heater from the sometimes default 140 degree setting to 120 degrees which is plenty hot enough for showers and dish washing.
Buy locally and buy organically grown food at local farmer’s markets. While organically grown food is on the higher end of pricing in stores one of the advantages of farmer’s markets is that you can haggle and become a regular or even make a deal with the farmer that you come weekly to the farm to pick up your food. When you make your weekly or monthly monthly budget make an effort to plan around visiting your local farmer’s market and getting fresh ingredients that will fit in your budget.
Take reusable cloth grocery bags to the store or farmer’s market instead of using the stores paper or plastic bags. Many stores are offering to sell you them at check out these days, but I say if you are crafty or just want to give craftiness a try make your own.
Get off junk mail lists. I like this one a lot because it saves time, energy and paper at the same time. Make sure the remaining junk mail that makes in through finds its way into the recycle bin. If your city doesn’t offer a recycling program contact them or contact me and I can work with you towards helping convince your city.
Shop neighborhood garage sales or a local flea market to get a good deal on a bicycle. Ride your bike to work or to the corner store if you need something quick. Pack a backpack with snacks or lunch and take your family on a walk or bike trip to the closest park.
Unplug your appliances when they’re not in use or if you can afford it grab a Smartstrip power strip that will sense when appliances go into stand by and cut off power to that appliance.
In the winter wear a sweater, socks and/or slippers indoors instead of running and turning on the heater. To save money if you don’t have winter clothing you can buy from local thrift store or just wear something old and ragged inside no one can see you but your loved ones.
Have a grocery shopping day with a few friends from the neighborhood and take a single car to the store. Buying bulk is a big help here too if you and a neighbor like the same cereal for example you could buy the biggest available box and split it using reusable air tight containers.
When stocking up on supplies check and see what they’re made out of. Buying 100% recycled paper for your printer may be a little more then 0% recycled paper, but the impact difference is huge. You can buy plenty of things recycled these days for about the same price as the alternative.